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A Lutheran Foundation's Bad Bets
Create Sharp Divisions in Parish

By

Ianthe Jeanne Dugan and

Jeff D. Opdyke Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

Updated Nov. 21, 2000 11:59 p.m. ET

(See Corrections and Amplifications item below .)

When Ethelyn Moeller and her husband donated their farm to their church, it seemed like a win-win proposition: The Fairmont, Minn., couple would do the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod a good turn, and the church would do them one, too.

Under a program that encourages members to donate, the church's money-management arm sold the Moellers' farm in 1992 for $192,500 and invested...